Tag: should

Think of the word “blog” and what comes to mind? Mommy bloggers? People posting funny cat videos? Well, no more. Today’s savvy job seekers are putting their skills to the test and blogging their way to success and job opportunities. Here’s why a blog can get you your next job.

1. It’s your resume, only better: Everyone has a resume. But a blog allows you to highlight the skills on your resume, times ten. For example, if you’re a writer, you can flex your writing muscles and post examples of your creative writing. Even if you’re a tax accountant, you can write your thought-provoking opinions on some of the new tax laws or add a testimonial from a happy client. Just be sure what you write is accurate and well-supported.

2. It gives you a positive digital footprint: Whenever you apply for a job, the first thing a recruiter will do is investigate you online. Having a blog will give potential employers a fuller (and positive) picture of who you are and how you carry yourself, both personally and professionally. And unlike being tagged in an unflattering — and public — image of yourself on Facebook, your blog contains content that you can completely control to project yourself in the best light possible.

3. It helps you build a network: Employers are not only looking for employees who bring knowledge and a superior skill set to the table, but they also want someone who is well connected. So while you might have 500+ connections on LinkedIn, having a blog that has a dedicated readership shows that you know how to create — and keep — connections, both in the digital world and the real world.

4. It keeps you current — and sharp: If you’ve been scanning and searching the Internet for job postings for a while, it’s easy to let your skills slip a little. Blogging will not only keep your knowledge current, but it will also keep your skills sharp as you create cool new content for your readers on a consistent basis. It can also help you stand out as a career expert in your industry.

5. It makes you interesting to employers: When hiring managers read resumes every day, it can get really boring, really fast. If you have a blog that represents not only your skills but also (hello!) your personality, that makes you stand out more than the other seekers who submitted their resumes on fine linen watermarked paper. Suddenly, you become a person — and a possible job candidate they’ll call in for an interview.

Creating and customizing a blog makes you attractive to potential employers. It will help set you apart from other candidates and give you that added edge in finding a job.

Mashable Job Board Listings

The Mashable Job Board connects job seekers across the U.S. with unique career opportunities in the digital space. While we publish a wide range of job listings, we have selected a few job opportunities from the past two weeks to help get you started. Happy hunting!

The New Volkswagen Polo will be unveiled to the world on 16th June, 2017. This will be the sixth generation Polo and will be coming to India next year as well. Being a completely new-generation, the new VW Polo will sport a new exterior design and will also be slightly bigger than the model currently on sale. The new Volkswagen Polo has been spotted testing many a times as well. Volkswagen says that the design language on the new Polo will complement the sporty demeanour of the car. In fact, the company also released a few teaser images of the new Polo and the Yellow colour surely puts the cheer in the new Polo car.

Here are some important things you should know about the new Polo car.

The first and the most important thing is that the new-gen VW Polo will now be manufactured having the versatile MQB A0 platform as its underpinning. This is the same platform, which also underpins the newly launched Volkswagen Tiguan in India. The previous generation Volkswagen Polo was built on the PQ25 platform.

(New-Generation Volkswagen Polo)

The silhouette of the car has changed. The new VW Polo has grown bigger and the wheelbase too has increased by 90 mm, from 2,470 mm to 2,550 mm. The width has increased by a fair margin too. Of course, the car will continue to be less than 4 metres in length. The cabin will have more room than the outgoing generation of the Polo.

As far as connectivity is concerned, the top trims of the new VW Polo will have a 9.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system which will have smartphone integration in the form on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There will be other connectivity options as well, depending on the trim level.

(This is the base model of the new-gen Polo. Notice the halogen headlamps)

As far as engine options are concerned, the new-gen Polo will have the 1.2-litre petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel engine when it goes on sale in India. We might also see the sportier GT variants of the Polo in due course of time.

The new-generation Polo will also form the basis of the new-gen Vento and the new-gen Ameo as well.

Windows 10 Creators Update added two display settings that make sitting in front of your laptop or PC a more pleasant experience. I’ll cover these two new display settings along with some old standbys so you can get Windows 10 ($92.99 at Amazon.com) looking its best.

1. Use the night light at night

Staring at an unnaturally blue screen at night can shift your body’s natural clock and make it difficult to get a good night’s sleep. Your phone likely has a way to switch to warmer colors at night, and now Windows does, too. Creators Update added a setting to lower the blue light of your PC. Head to Settings > System > Display (or just right-click on your desktop and choose Display settings) and click Night light settings. You can use a slider to choose how warm you want your display’s color temperature to get a night and schedule night-light mode to come on at sunset or manually set hours. You’ll also find a new Night light button in the Action Center to toggle the setting on and off.

2. Fix old apps with high DPI scaling

It’s a bummer to upgrade to a 4K display only to find that some of your apps look blurry, because the developer has yet to update them to run on a screen with so many pixels. Creators Update adds a way for you to override DPI settings so individual apps can scale properly (read: crisply) on high-resolution displays. For apps that look less than crisp on a high-resolution display, right-click on the app and choose Properties. Click on the Compatibility tab and check the box for Override high DPI scaling behavior and then choose System (Enhanced) from the pull-down menu.

If you are having trouble reading text, recognizing icons and navigating apps because your high-resolution display makes everything look so tiny, then you need to check out Windows 10’s scaling options. On the Display settings back is an option for Scale and layout. Windows will recommend a percentage but you can play around with the offerings to find the right balance between legibility and screen real estate.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

4. Use your display’s native resolution

You should make every effort to use your display’s native resolution, which Windows calls the recommended resolution. It’s the highest resolution offered. If you select a lower resolution, then your screen image will look blurry. At its native resolution, each pixel on your LCD display is directly mapped to a pixel in the image sent by your PC’s graphics produce a sharp image. When those pixels don’t line up, things get blurry. Try to adjust the size of text and icons and so on by using the scaling option in tip 3 before you lower your screen resolution from the recommended setting.

5. Do a little color calibration

Windows has a built-in color calibration tool that’s hiding out in the Control Panel. Just search for color calibration and select Calibrate color display. You’ll be stepped through a number of display tests to adjust gamma, brightness, contrast and color balance. The tool helpfully shows you examples prior to each test image so you know what to look for to get the best results.

Windows 10 S is a streamlined version of Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system designed to improve performance by limiting the programs it can run.

The software can only run apps downloaded from Windows’ Store, making it Microsoft’s answer to Google’s Chrombook.

Announced in May, the company has called the software a “walled” version of Windows 10 that will help computers “run as well as they do on day one as they do on day 1,000”. One reason laptops slow down is invasive software, Microsoft says, so the new system will be welcome to many users.

However, the operating system restricts what apps users can download, meaning some users may want to stick to a more traditional program. For them, there is an option to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for a $49 (£38) fee.

What is Windows 10 S?

Similar in many ways to Microsoft’s current operating system Windows 10 Pro, the new software has the same task bars, multi-tasking and hot keys as the current system, as well as the same look. The operating system has been showcased on Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop, released on June 15.

So what has changed? Apps installed on Windows 10 S are “contained” to prevent them from making changes to the operating system, which should mean the laptop performs better over its lifetime. Microsoft says the system should boot 15 seconds faster on average than a similar machine running Windows 10 Pro.

It also helps to secure the system by limiting the device to apps that are verified and downloaded through the Windows Store, which prevents malicious and unwanted software from slowing the system down.

The operating system is also designed to lock down and secure devices for use as education tools, tapping into the market that has been dominated by Google’s ChromeOS.

Chrome and Firefox will not be available

One issue that may cause some people to change their operating system from Windows 10 S is the limitation of popular apps. The operating system limits users to Microsoft’s Edge web browser and makes Bing the default search engine.

The restrictions mean users cannot set Google as their default search engine or download the Chrome app. Other search engines like Firefox aren’t available either, while popular systems such as gaming platform Steam and Adobe’s Creative Cloud Suite cannot be downloaded.

More apps are coming to the Windows Store, however, with Spotify and iTunes some of the latest additions. Any user attempting to install an app that is not approved by the Windows store will be met with the following pop up.

Windows 10 S pop upCREDIT: MICROSOFT

Should I upgrade to Windows 10 Pro?

If you really want to use apps that can’t be accessed on the Windows Store you have the option of upgrading to Windows 10 Pro, Microsoft’s current software.

The quickest way to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro is by attempting to download an app from outside of the Windows Store, which triggers a pop-up offering the upgrade.

Windows 10 Pro installCREDIT: MICROSOFT

The download will be free to users on the Microsoft Surface Laptop until December 31, after which users will incur a fee. The software upgrade cannot be reversed, meaning once you switch to Windows 10 Pro you cannot easily return to 10 S.

The update also won’t be free on cheaper Windows devices, with those under $700 (£550) incurring a $49 (£39) fee for upgrading. Microsoft has not yet confirmed UK pricing.

What devices will run Windows 10 S?

The flagship device for Windows 10 S is Microsoft’s new £979 Surface Laptop. It will also come on a range of new devices from Acer, Dell, HP Acer, Asus and Samsung. These devices will largely be cheaper than the Surface Laptop, although few are available in the UK at the moment.

HIGHLIGHTS

Companies have tried making modular gadgets for decades

Google’s Project Ara might just be the biggest failed modular attempt

There’s nothing to suggest modular devices can really work

The common complaint heard these days with gadgets – and smartphones in particular – is that there’s a lack of any true innovation. Phones today look more similar than ever before, monoliths carved out of glass and aluminium. Because of tightly-packed hardware that allows them to be thinner and lighter, many phones have lost even basic features, such as a replaceable battery, and even the 3.5mm headphone jack in recent times.

What if, like the good old desktop computer, other gadgets too were made up of easily pluggable components, that could be replaced individually, instead of replacing the entire product every few years? That’s the premise behind modular hardware, but although people keep trying to make it happen, there’s little reason to believe it actually will.

The idea isn’t new, but has certainly evolved with time. Back in 1999, Handspring made Personal Digital Assistants that had a Springboard Expansion Slot, used to attach modules that added features like GPS, a camera, RFID, or barcode scanner. Sony Ericsson’s phones from 2002 such as the T68i and T300 too were compatible with an attachable accessory that added a camera to these phones.

Next came Modu, a mobile phone released in 2007 that brought the idea of easily swappable ‘jackets’, which would either change the appearance of the phone or add additional functionality, or both. For instance, there was a ‘Boom Box’ jacket that added stereo speakers, a ‘Storage Jacket’ that added added a male USB port to directly attach to a computer.

Modu Express Jacket

It even partnered with Micromax to bring the modular phone to India in 2010, which had a ‘camera jacket’.

But all these additional features quickly got integrated into smartphones, as features like cameras, GPS, stereo speakers, etc gained importance over time. By 2011 Modu had shut operations and sold its patents to Google.

In 2013, the idea of modular hardware again caught eyeballs, as a concept called Phonebloks went viral, with many rallying up towards a modular phone future. The then-Google-owned Motorola even acknowledged the concept as it unveiled Project Ara, finally giving modular phone fans their brightest ray of hope.

Project Ara was basically a real-life version of Phonebloks, where endoskeletal frames called ‘endos’ held together everything from the display module, to the ones containing the battery, chipset, camera, and more. The endos came in three sizes – mini, medium and large. Apart from being able to upgrade the phone’s basic hardware at any point of time, there was also talk of specialised modules like medical devices, pico projectors, night vision sensors, game controllers, etc.

After years of iterations and a failed first bootup in 2014, Project Ara by 2016 changed vastly, with many of the core components like the battery, display, and system-on-chip becoming non-replaceable. Ultimately, the project was killed by the end of that year.

Project Ara

Around the same time as Project Ara, there were two other projects that took a slightly different approach to modularity. Instead of swapping out every component for a new one to add functionality, the pitch was easy repairability and creating a positive social change.

Amsterdam-based Fairphone started its work in 2013 and produced two phones, the newest of which (Fairphone 2) scored a 10/10 repairability score by iFixit, with the spare parts being easily available for purchase on its website. As of today, the Fairphone 2 sports an ancient, 2014-made Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip and runs Android 5.1 Lollipop, which was released the same year as the chipset. It can be preordered today for 529 euros (roughly Rs. 37,000), though it doesn’t sound like a good purchase, to say the least.

Another Finland-based company, called PuzzlePhone, in 2014 made a product with three easily-replaceable parts – dubbed the Brain, Spine, and Heart. The brain consisted of essentials such as the CPU, RAM, internal storage and cameras; the spine had the display; and the heart contained the battery. On its blog post, the company shared that due to financial troubles, it couldn’t ship the phones in 2016, though it’s still trying to ship this year.

While attempts like Project Ara were closer to the true modular phone dream, there were some subtler attempts made by LG and Motorola in 2016, with the LG G5 and Moto Z respectively. The LG G5 had a removable battery module, which could be replaced with attachments called ‘LG Friends’. These included a pro-camera module and a DAC made by Bang and Olufsen. The Moto Z had magnetically latching ‘Moto Mods’, which ranged from camera-centric accessories made by Hasselblad, to speakers and battery packs.

As of today, LG is said to be removing modular functionality from the successor to the G5. Motorola’s next phone might also drop mods, though at least the Moto Z is supposed to continue supporting mods in next year’s model.

Modular isn’t restricted to the smartphone category too – a company called Blocks started its Kickstarter campaign in October 2015 to make a smartwatch with modules that could be coupled together as part of the wrist strap. Last we heard, the shipments of the product had been delayed more than once, finally pushed to December 2016. We’re in January 2017 already and there appears to be no word on the progress.

Blocks Modular Smartwatch

The interest in modular devices was also evident at this year’s CES 2017 – where Intel announced the Compute Card, a credit-card sized standard for plug-and-play computing hardware, which can be easily replaced in appliances like smart refrigerators, smart kiosks, security camera setups, and so on.

Similarly, Xiaomi said its Mi TV 4’s computing hardware (presumably, the system on chip) would be upgradeable after it becomes obsolete after a few years, without having to change the entire TV.

These ideas sound interesting, but even a cursory reading of the history of modular attempts is enough to make you cynical. If you’ve read all the documented attempts at making modular gadgets, you will want to take anything in the future that has the words ‘modular’ in it with a pinch of salt.

No matter how much fans want a world where their gadgets are easily upgradeable like desktop computers, there are physical, technological, and economical limitations that have kept this from becoming mainstream.

For example, can the individual modules be small and strong enough that the overall size of a modular smartphone is comparable to the dimensions and durability of today’s typical smartphone? As of now, that’s not the case. And what happens when users are given the freedom to upgrade individual components that may not play nicely with the rest of the setup? What if a hypothetical 4K display module or a dual camera setup was put on a phone whose processing power is not up to the task? You would have to upgrade some other modules to support the display. At which point, wouldn’t it not be a cheaper proposition to buy a new phone instead?

Next is also the question of compatibility – remember how when you put a new graphics card in a computer, you have to install drivers given by the manufacturer? Will modular component makers support all the fragmented versions of Android in use by making their components compatible with all of them?

Then comes question of economics – will manufacturing, selling and supporting these modules be a profitable business? Can the modules be cheap enough to be affordable for most consumers? You can buy a good smartphone for well under Rs. 10,000 today – can these modular components offer competitive pricing?

Lastly, comes the question of interoperability. None of the examples above had modules that were interoperable with other manufacturers. In a desktop computer, a graphics card made by Zotac works with a motherboard made by Asus, because the PCIe slot is standardised. Unfortunately the same isn’t the case with modular gadgets (at least until now) because one standard isn’t implemented by multiple makers.

Manufacturers have spent many decades trying to answer these questions. Clearly (and unfortunately), they haven’t been able to make any meaningful impact yet, and it doesn’t look like there’s going to be one anytime soon.

Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People Comedian Chris Gethard opens the phone lines to one anonymous caller, and vows to never hang up first. Every caller tells a story, ranging from shocking confessions to sad tales of failed artists, and the comedian helps get to the source of their emotions. You’ll get sucked into the raw, honest conversations.

AWAYE! Tap into Aboriginal art and culture from all over Australia. You’ll get a chance to hear from a variety of Aboriginal people, as well as touch on topics such as constitutional recognition, and their representation in politics. It’s a must-listen for every Australian.

The Hilarious World of Depression A beautiful podcast that faces the dreary world of depression head on. Host John Moe, who has battled depression throughout his life, interviews comedians about their mental health issues. The show draws listeners in by being extremely relatable, even for listeners without a mental health illness.

HomecomingGimlet Media brings listeners a scripted political thriller with an all-star cast including David Schwimmer (Friends), Catherine Keener, Oscar Isaac, Amy Sedaris, and David Cross. The show, which is in talks to become a TV series, focuses on a caseworker at a government facility. Close your eyes and let the sounds paint the scene; you’re in for great acting.

Never Before with Janet Mock Janet Mock, a transgender rights activist and author, teams up with actress Lena Dunham to bring listeners a brand new podcast that features in depth conversations with some of the most influential celebrities of this generation. Her first episode starts with one of the most famous matriarchs in the world, Beyonc??’s mother, Tina Knowles.

RevealSome of the best investigative journalists in the world come together to tell compelling stories on everything from crime to politics. Hosted by Al Letson, this podcast touches on many relevant issues in today’s world.

Sleeptalker This is a podcast surrounding the topic of sleep, specifically what happens when we sleep. The show also digs deeper into sleeping disorders and anxiety, but is told as a captivating story that is sure to hook the listener.

99% InvisibleThe show touches on the thoughts that go into the things we don’t think about. Topics include the origin of the fortune cookie and how inflatable men came to be regular fixtures in used car lots.

InvisibiliaCo-hosted by Lulu Miller, Hanna Rosin and Alix Spiegel, the podcast goes in depth on the invisible forces that control human behaviour.